Once ‘un-Australian’ appears in any debate don’t expect rational argument or evidence. Look no further for proof than the advertising blitz by Clubs Australia and the Australian Hotels Association against…
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As we worry about where we will put Australia’s ever-increasing population, urban trees are becoming collateral damage. So how much are our trees worth to us? According to Melbourne City Council, they…
Tony Abbott’s recently unveiled welfare reform package advocating a range of tough policies to push people into work has been described by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as ‘reheated’. You might expect that…
No amount of AFL passes in the Oval Office during Prime Minister Gillard’s visit to Washington last month could disguise the real issue facing Australia, the US and the rest of the world: the rise of China…
In the course of researching two books about cosmetic surgery, the most shocking truth I have discovered is how uncontroversial or “normal” it has become. Over the last decade, I’ve interviewed many people…
FOOD SECURITY - Soils can help us solve two of the most pressing problems of the coming decades: climate change and food shortage. There is more fresh water in the world’s soils than in all its lakes and…
Independent MP Tony Windsor was right in early March when he called for a debate on carbon pricing in Australia that is “a little bit more advanced than the word ‘lie’ and the word ‘tax’”. The quality…
Some 150 years ago, Charles Darwin proposed a mechanism for evolutionary change; but is there something beyond natural selection driving evolution? My colleagues and I think so, and we believe it has come…
Yesterday, April 11, should be remembered as the day the Australian science community agreed to change. Specifically, it agreed to change the way we work to enable women to fully participate, and to prevent…
Recent rumours from the highest levels of the Commonwealth Government indicate the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) budget may be slashed by $400 million over the next three years…
The current media frenzy around the sex scandal enveloping the Australian Defence Force Academy, and the predictable response to reports that women will be fast-tracked into combat roles, illustrates the…
The rules of being a conflict reporter are largely unchanged and very simple. According to Fairfax’s correspondent, Paul McGeough: “You’ve got to get in. You’ve got to get the story”. The present uprising…
The destruction or modification of habitat is the leading cause of biodiversity loss in Australia and around the world. Letting animals have rights over their habitat could be the answer. Despite 40 years…
On a recent long-haul flight, with very limited movie options, I watched the Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp movie The Tourist (two thumbs firmly down). A particular scene on a train to Venice did catch…
FOOD SECURITY - With a global population tipped to exceed 9.2 billion by 2050, the security of the world’s food supplies is more fraught now than ever. But can we do more to protect the food we have? While…
Interested in art? Think it may be a good investment for your super? Think again - or at least be very very careful. More than 10 months since Jeremy Cooper’s independent superannuation review recommended…
We know a lot about what the universe looks like and how it works. But what we’ve been able to figure out about the cosmos is dwarfed by all the things we don’t know. How do galaxies, stars and planets…
It seems every company now considers corporate social responsibility a vital part of their proposition for customers. But even with scandals involving multinationals like Enron, Tyco and Siemens, we could…
As the US was brought to the brink of a government shutdown this weekend, one of the sticking points was Republican insistence that President Obama curtail the activities of the Environmental Protection…
We are living in extraordinary times. People are using social media to campaign for freedom from their governments, but their ideas are built on a much more powerful medium: literature. Protests have swept…
A prolonged period of hotter-than-average temperatures in the crater lake of New Zealand’s Mt Ruapehu has seen the country’s media questioning whether another eruption is on the cards. Mt Ruapehu (Māori…
When it comes to branding and advertising, much of what we are exposed to creates only marginal difference. But even small differences can tip the balance toward a particular choice, and plain packaging…
The Australian dollar has been striking new post-float highs against the US dollar in recent weeks, and according to a number of prominent market economists could reach US$1.10 before the end of this year…
Government modelling has given us a rough idea what a carbon tax could cost households, but will the burden be borne fairly? Whether we have a carbon tax or climate change, poor households will likely…
For the public, the jury is still out on nanotechnology – the media simultaneously extols its promise and warns of the potential calamity facing humanity. But what is it? How does it work? Is it dangerous…